In August I spent a week with the International Rescue Committee in New York. The IRC is a publicly and privately funded organisation, originally set up by Albert Einstein, to help people suffering from the consequences of war and natural disasters.I helped refugees from Syria, some of whom were teenagers my age, whom the IRC is resettling in the USA; we spent time teaching them about the basics of life in the USA.The main project that I worked on was something called shopping day. Over the previous month people had donated hundreds of different items to the IRC, refugees that were helped by the IRC could come into the office and take them for free. The items that had been donated were clothes, children’s toys, kitchen utensils and computers. We were only expecting around fifty people to come because it was raining, but one hundred and fifty people came, which really lifted my spirits. The world now faces the single worst refugee crisis of the last 25 years, with more than four million people displaced from their homes in Syria, and many of them in temporary camps or squatting in cities in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. In addition to running camps for Syrians, the IRC works in over 40 countries, including Pakistan, Iraq and Nigeria. The UK has so far done little to take in refugees from Syria, and I feel everyone should do something to alleviate their suffering. On September 24, Sanjayan Srikanthan who works with the IRC will give a talk at the morning assembly about the IRC, about some of the brave things he has done, and about what we can all do to help. It is a chance to donate to the IRC, and anything given will be hugely appreciated.Here is a link to the IRC website: the article about the Syrian who made it across to the safety is worth reading. www.irc.orgJames Greer